


Love

by foolsthesemortalsbe



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 09:46:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10160504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foolsthesemortalsbe/pseuds/foolsthesemortalsbe
Summary: There are some things to be said.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [based on this headcanon](https://immafool.tumblr.com/post/157984486580/malec-i-love-you-headcanon)
> 
>  
> 
> i actually did have this finished before the finale, but my wifi was acting up because of course it would >.<
> 
> anyway i loved the "I love you" we got and wouldn't change it for the world, but it seemed silly not to post something i'd already written just because the words were already there, so enjoy
> 
> and i'll go rewatch the midseason finale

Magnus had had many long days in his life, but he had to admit that this was quite long. He thought it might even crack the top ten longest days of his life.

First there had been a young (and by young, Magnus simply meant younger than himself – 200 years wasn’t so long when one lived forever) warlock wreaking havoc downtown. Really, Magnus thought the pranks were quite amusing, but using magic so near the mundanes was risky at best. If the Clave caught wind of it, it wouldn’t end well, so Magnus had gone down to have a chat with the man. That had taken most of his morning, and dealing with the Sighted mundanes who had actually seen the magic for what it was took another two hours.

He had made it back to his loft around lunchtime, and had immediately had a visitor who demanded a certain potion Magnus knew he could get in trouble for making, one that would give the mundane certain abilities that the Clave was ardently against giving mundanes. At first, Magnus did the noble thing and tried to talk the mundane out of requesting it, but the effort was wasted; in the end, he made a reasonable facsimile that wouldn’t have the desired effect, but instead would put the user into a dreamlike state for a couple of days, only to wake up with no recollection of what the potion was supposed to do or having had need for it in the first place. Magnus felt both justified in selling it to the buyer and pleased with himself for making a profit on something the Clave wouldn’t care about anyway, even if it had taken up a rather significant part of his afternoon.

Certain Laws he didn’t mind breaking. The ones that were in place to keep inexperienced mundanes away from the Shadow World where they would no doubt harm themselves and others were the ones Magnus had to agree with, if only grudgingly. Admitting the Clave had a point was one of the things he tried hardest to avoid, but sometimes it was inevitable. It left a bad taste in his mouth and he was sure he had aged another five years with the acknowledgement.

He had two phone calls after that – one requesting his services and another that was a rather lengthy, boring, and necessary update on some business with the vampire clan. Both calls lasted far longer than he wanted them to, but at least he could sneak a late lunch while he was talking, manners be damned.

By the time he heard Alec’s footsteps coming down the hall (he wasn’t sure when he’d started to recognize them, but they were comforting all the same) he had worn out all the patience he had for the day.

“Rough day?” Alec asked when Magnus opened the door for him. Magnus didn’t mind if Alec let himself in, but he’d been on his way past the door when he’d heard Alec coming, so he’d decided to meet him there.

“Is it that obvious?” Magnus made a face as he closed the door, wondering if he should just grab a drink and call it quits for the day.

Magnus thought he must have sounded harsher than he intended because Alec ducked his head when he answered, “Sorry. You just… I don’t know, you have a look.”

“I have a look?” Magnus asked. He furrowed his brow as he walked to the kitchen to get a drink. He took stock of his face and tried to determine if there was anything out of the ordinary about his expression. The only difference he could pinpoint was that he was possibly more relaxed since Alec showed up, but that was only if he was being nit-picky. Probably.

“I didn’t mean-” Alec broke off and took a deep breath, clearly trying to get his thoughts in order. He leaned against the counter and watched Magnus get a glass down, nodding when Magnus held up a second glass with a questioning look. “When you’ve had a long day, you just…look tired,” Alec tried again when he was handed his drink. “Like moving is harder. I don’t know what it is, but something’s different.”

Magnus made a curious sound and led the way to the sofa, gesturing for Alec to sit beside him. He had to admit he hadn’t noticed, but he was touched that Alec had. It had been a long time since someone had been concerned enough about him to notice changes like that. “Well I did have a long day,” Magnus said, and even he could hear how tired his voice was. Maybe he wasn’t so subtle. Maybe he noticed because he was wondering what Alec was talking about. “I don’t want to talk about it. How was your day?”

“Not very exciting,” Alec said with a shrug. He might have tried to sound offhand, but Magnus could see otherwise. The way Alec’s eyes lit up when he talked about how Max’s training was going, the way he gestured to try to project what he was saying onto the room, the way he bent or straightened his shoulders when he wanted Magnus to understand. Alec might not have been good with words, but Magnus could hear so much more; there was an ease in their communication, and Magnus was suddenly aware of just how much he understood of what Alec said without Alec needing to speak the words aloud.

Silence followed Alec’s last few words as Magnus chuckled into his glass about something that from anyone else would not have warranted such a reaction.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about your day?” Alec asked into the silence, a note of genuine concern in his voice. His hand was resting on Magnus’ leg where it was casually thrown over his thigh.

Magnus sighed and leaned further into the armrest of the sofa. “It was business with the vampires,” he said, “and a young warlock and a couple of mundanes causing trouble.” He felt Alec’s hand squeeze his knee and allowed himself to take a bit of comfort from the gesture. He offered Alec a small smile. “Nothing exciting, just tedious.”

“At least it’s over,” Alec said, his voice rising slightly at the end to make his statement sound more like a question. The expression he wore was hopeful, as if he truly wanted to help Magnus find the silver lining.

Magnus became aware, then, of several things at once. He felt, really _felt_ , Alec’s hand on his leg – there was nothing illicit about the gesture, the hand didn’t wander, it was simply a touch meant to comfort and reassure, a statement that said _I’m here for you_. He was aware of the kindness in Alec’s expression, the sincere desire to make his day better. He realized he was noticing all these things, down to the way Alec’s dark hair fell across his forehead, the new white scar on Alec’s arm where a rune had been used up (one for acute hearing, if Magnus was remembering correctly), the way Alec had turned the conversation back to Magnus and sincerely inquired about Magnus’ day.

And on top of all of this, Magnus could feel a warmth in his chest, as if he had too much to hold in his ribcage. He was happy with this Shadowhunter, he was comfortable drawing strength from him, comfortable with Alec offering him strength.

It had been a while since the last time Magnus could say he loved someone the way he loved Alec, and sitting here on the sofa, an empty glass in his hand and Alec’s soft hazel eyes staring into his, he almost let the words slip out.

“Yes, at least it’s over,” Magnus said instead, the smile on his face softening. He felt his whole body relax as he reached out to cover Alec’s hand on his knee. “And you’re here now.”

Alec looked away, but he couldn’t hide the pleased look on his face, the faint flush that rose to his cheeks.

No, Magnus couldn’t tell Alec he loved him. Not yet. Alec was still too new to this, still dealing with his own feelings on the subject. Rushing into things had hurt more than one of Magnus’ past relationships, and he wasn’t willing to chance it with Alec. Some other day, then, when Magnus was sure that saying _I love you_ wouldn’t be too much.

=====

It had been quiet for a few days, which was boring.

Alec had been helping to start Max’s training, which was not.

Max was still much smaller than the rest of them, but he obviously didn’t want that to be pointed out. He trained as hard as he could with his weapons, and moved as quickly as he could force his muscles to go. Alec had to admit he was impressed with his little brother, but he also had to remind himself that Max really didn’t have any training and couldn’t be expected to keep up the pace he had set for himself. Max was trying to prove he could keep up with the others, but of course he couldn’t. Not yet.

When Jace called him out of the room to track down a demon a group of inexperienced mundanes had summoned, Alec was both disappointed to leave Max and excited to finally have something to do that was outside the Institute. The information they had was that at least one of the mundanes had had the Sight and had gotten sucked into the Shadow World, probably through an unfortunate encounter with someone who liked to stir up trouble. Alec had immediately called Magnus to find out if he knew anything, and he had said he already had an idea of the warlock who knew where the mundanes had gotten their supplies.

The demon was larger than they’d expected, which was annoying. Jace was tossed around a bit and Alec hissed when he felt the demon’s claws rake his upper arm. It wasn’t too difficult to defeat the thing when they finally had their bearings, but being caught off-guard hadn’t helped; a few healing runes repaired the worst of the damage, but Alec knew he’d have angry red lines on his arm for the next few days.

Either fortunately or unfortunately, the mundanes had fled before the Shadowhunters had arrived.

Max had asked about it when they’d returned, looking more excited about impending doom than any child had a right to. Jace had been all too eager to supply details. Alec was impressed that he had to correct Jace’s tale of heroics only thrice – once on the actual size of the demon, once on the number of mundanes that had needed immediate defending, and once on the amount of help Alec had offered.

“He just doesn’t know how to tell a good story,” Jace said conspiratorially to Max with a wink. Max grinned at him. “I’ll tell you the real story later.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Just don’t make yourself the hero,” Alec said.

“I _am_ the hero,” Jace said indignantly. Max giggled.

It was past dinner time, and Alec excused himself to change; he was going over to Magnus’ for the evening, much to his mother’s chagrin. He found he couldn’t bring himself to care.

As always, when Magnus opened the door to his loft, Alec felt underdressed. He’d changed into jeans and a plain t-shirt with a sweater thrown over to keep the chill away, while Magnus was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a waistcoat and dark jeans, in addition to his jewelry and makeup. Alec had never been the fashionable type, but aside from a few offhand teasing remarks, Magnus never really brought it up – never seemed to mind at all.

“I trust your demon is taken care of?” Magnus said. Instead of stepping aside to let Alec in, he flicked the light switch beside door and stepped out.

“For now,” Alec said with a curious look. “Who knows where the mundanes went.”

“Well,” Magnus said, “that’s a problem for another day.” He checked to make sure the door had locked and then jerked his head to one side, indicating Alec should follow him down the hall. “I thought some fresh air would be a nice change.”

Alec held off on mentioning that they’d sat on the patio on the roof before, and he was fairly certain the air on the ground was no cleaner than the air up higher. “Any reason?”

“We’ve been in the apartment for your last four visits,” Magnus said matter-of-factly, stepping into the elevator. He smirked. “A change of scenery can do wonders.”

“You’re not getting bored with me, are you?” Alec asked lightly. He tried to pass it off as a joke, but deep down he felt real concern gnaw at him.

Magnus shook his head and wound an arm around Alec’s waist, pulling him closer. “Never.” There was a certainty in his voice that made Alec smile.

The air outside was cool and pleasant. Magnus turned them south and just started walking, not seeming to have any destination in mind.

“Where are we going?” Alec asked.

“Nowhere in particular,” Magnus replied. He threaded his fingers through Alec’s and kissed the back of his hand. “It occurred to me that you and I have been cooped up recently.” He glanced up at Alec and smiled at him. “A little movement never hurt anyone.”

Alec squeezed Magnus’ hand. “I guess not.”

Magnus chuckled, his attention catching on a squat building they were passing. “There used to be a speakeasy over here,” he said, nodding toward the building.

Alec glanced over at the building, his pace slowing so he could get a good look at it. The building was brick, with boarded and broken windows and graffiti across its face. There was a “For Rent” sign on its door, but it was faded and Alec doubted it was still a legitimate advertisement. “It doesn’t look like much now,” he said.

“No,” Magnus said, almost wistfully. “But it was something in its day.”

“I didn’t know there had ever been a speakeasy there,” Alec commented. He wasn’t sure what the place could have been, but in all the research he’d had to do about New York, he was sure he’d never seen anything about that particular place.

“We did a good job keeping it hidden,” Magnus said. He tugged on Alec’s hand and stepped off.

Alec caught on something in Magnus’ voice. “Wait, _we_?”

Magnus hummed. “It was mine. At least most days,” Magnus said, a hint of pride in his voice.

The rest of the night passed in much the same way. Magnus had lived in New York for a long time, and had visited several times before he’d even moved there. He talked about the places and people he had known.

Alec was sure he could have listened to Magnus talk all night. The history itself was interesting, but the fact that much of it was _Magnus’_ history made it all the more compelling. It wasn’t often that Magnus talked about his life too far in the past, but he’d been getting more comfortable talking about it. Alec was struck by the thought that maybe the reason was that Alec himself had stopped being too bothered by it. He couldn’t say he was totally comfortable with Magnus talking about his past relationships, but he was getting better. He was more curious about Magnus’ past now.

“What about the Institute?” Alec asked when there was a lag in conversation.

“What about it?”

“How has it changed?”

A thoughtful looked passed over Magnus’ face. They were standing on a beach overlooking the river and Magnus was staring out over the water. Alec found himself staring at Magnus’ face, almost memorizing the features. He found himself wanting nothing more than to freeze this moment and keep it forever. He wondered how tacky it would be to take his phone out of his pocket and take a picture.

“Institutes don’t change much,” Magnus finally said. His voice was faraway, as if he knew this from extensive personal experience. “Shadowhunters and the Law are always around. Though the Law has been altered a few times. As for New York…” Magnus shrugged and trailed off, looking at Alec out of the corner of his eye with a fond smile. “You’re here now. So, that’s a pleasant change.”

Alec felt his face heat up, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He felt a certain familiar pleasure in his chest at the statement, as if his chest might burst open. “For what it’s worth,” he said, “I like being here too.” He knew it wasn’t the most graceful thing to say, but Magnus had never made any comment about his lack of tact. In fact, Magnus had seemed only pleased whenever Alec actually said what was on his mind instead of electing to keep quiet because he didn’t think he was saying something right.

“Why don’t we have a seat?” Magnus suggested, tugging Alec over to a bench a few feet away.

Alec paused before he sat down, freeing his hand for the first time that night so he could shed his sweater. He caught a teasing look on Magnus’ face and expected a comment to go with it. He did not expect Magnus’ expression to suddenly change to alarm.

“What’s wrong?” Alec asked, looking down at his chest and then behind him. He couldn’t find the source of Magnus’ change in attitude.

“Your arm,” Magnus said, pulling Alec down onto the bench beside him and inspecting the lines on his arm.

“Oh, that,” Alec said. “Yeah, the demon got me. No big deal though. A healing rune took care of the worst of it.”

Magnus didn’t seem convinced. He ran his fingers over the marks, blue magic sparking from his fingers. “You should have told me.”

Alec blinked at him; he’d been injured before, and he knew what he could take. Besides, this had been a relatively minor injury, and a healing rune from his _parabatai_ was stronger than one he could apply to himself. This would just take time to heal completely.

Still, something about Magnus’ concern made him pause. He remembered how cheery Magnus had been just a moment ago, and he was amazed by how quickly that mood had been replaced. Now Alec could feel magic thrumming up and down his arm, and something heavy settled in his chest and squeezed his heart. He was acutely aware of the feeling not only of Magnus’ magic, but Magnus’ other hand on his shoulder, steadying him. He caught on what Magnus was saying – sometimes the words of a spell, sometimes thinking to himself out loud. The way he spoke was different, and Alec wondered how many different tones he’d been able to pick up on their walk that night.

Alec thought it was strange to have so many thoughts swirling in his mind. He was aware that something about sitting next to Magnus was comfortable in a way that sitting with everyone else wasn’t. There was something about how quickly Magnus became concerned for his well-being made Alec’s heart skip. He could feel where their thighs touched and his hand gripped Magnus’ knee at a sudden flare of pain in his arm.

“Almost done, Alexander,” Magnus purred before going back to whatever language it was that he’d been casting in.

Alec just nodded, comforted by Magnus’ reassuring grip on his shoulder and the soft way he spoke. God, how he loved that voice.

Wait. Loved?

The thought pulled Alec up short and he had to reevaluate his own thought process. He hadn’t thought about anyone like that before. He thought about his family, and he thought about the things they did. Yes, he loved them, the way they did things.

Magnus wasn’t his family. But Alec loved him.

“There,” Magnus said finally, touching Alec’s forearm with the hand he’d been casting with. He caught the spooked look on Alec’s face and his brow furrowed again. “Do you feel okay?”

 _Okay?_ Alec wanted to shout. _I’m better than okay_. But the words didn’t leave his throat. He wasn’t good with words anyway, but this was different. He didn’t have any experience with telling anyone anything like this. Magnus looked so worried, and Alec just wanted to kiss the look off his face, wanted to repeat _I love you_ until he couldn’t think of anything else.

He didn’t do any of that. He wasn’t sure whether he should. It hadn’t been that long since he’d even _met_ Magnus, let alone since they’d officially started their relationship. What if this was too soon? What if he tripped over his tongue for the hundredth time and managed to mess this up?

“Yeah,” Alec said, shaking himself. _Understatement_. “Yeah, I feel fine.” He glanced down at his arm to hide his expression. The scars on his arm were now only faint pink lines that would likely be gone by morning. “Thank you.”

Magnus’ expression softened. “You’re welcome,” he said. “But please tell me if this happens again.” His hand moved from Alec’s shoulder to his arm, covering the scars. “It wouldn’t have killed you, but it would have taken far longer than necessary to heal.” He smiled. “If we can avoid that, I’d prefer to.”

“Yeah,” Alec said again. He could get lost in the look Magnus was giving him – in those eyes he loved. “Me too. Thank you.” He wasn’t sure what he was thanking him for anymore.

=====

Magnus was agitated. Alec had been in Idris for the last week, and from what little communication they had had, it hadn’t gone well. And Magnus had been having his own trouble with Downworld. For the last couple of weeks, it had been one problem after another. Finally, miraculously, he had a break from the politics, and Alec was coming home.

Of course, he didn’t expect to see Alec until the next day, but at least Alec could call. Or even text. At this point Magnus would settle for morse code.

He heard the door open and felt himself deflate; Raphael had been coming by nearly every day, but Magnus had thought they’d solved that particular issue.

“Alexander?” he asked, pulling up short when he spotted Alec standing in his foyer.

“Magnus,” Alec sounded relieved. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be home.”

“You could have called,” Magnus said with a slight smile. He hadn’t realized how much tension he was holding in his shoulders until it was gone. And all it had taken was Alec walking back into his life. “I would have cleaned up,” he added.

Alec drew his brows together and looked around the loft. It might not have been impeccable, but it certainly wasn’t a mess. He looked back at Magnus out of the corner of his eye. “Are you messing with me?”

Magnus’ smile widened. “Maybe a little,” he said. He finally crossed to where Alec was standing and neither of them hesitated in sealing their lips together in a kiss. “I’ve missed you,” Magnus breathed.

“I’ve missed you too,” Alec said. He pulled away from Magnus and held him at arm’s length, an apprehensive look crossing his face. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

Magnus didn’t like the sound of that. He’d heard it in the past, and it hadn’t ended well. The relief he’d felt on seeing Alec again transformed itself into uncertainty and he took a hesitant step back. He saw confusion mix with the nerves on Alec’s face, and it did nothing to help the unease in his own chest.

Magnus had had a plan. He’d expected Alec to call him tonight, and they’d set up a date for later in the week, when they’d had a chance to settle back into regular routines. He wanted to have a nice meal, maybe not too fancy but certainly decent, and he wanted to tell Alec he loved him; the last month or so had been nothing but a series of long, stressful days, broken up only by his dates with Alec, and he’d finally decided that if he didn’t get the words out, they were going to drive him out of his mind.

His day had been too long, that was it. He wasn’t thinking clearly. There was nothing unpleasant Alec would say to him. He forced himself to relax. “Why don’t we have a glass of wine?” he offered, managing a smile. Now was as good a time as any. “I have something to tell you too.”

Just before he turned to lead the way to the kitchen, Magnus noticed Alec’s expression change to hesitant, as if he were also having a specific plan thwarted.

At least they were on the same page.

They ended up seated on the couch beside each other. It was a familiar position, and Magnus felt Alec lean against him. Shadowhunters didn’t call it jetlag, but portaling across so many time zones certainly took a toll on a person’s circadian rhythm.

“What did you want to tell me?” Magnus finally asked. He stared out the window at the skyline and realized his arm was around Alec’s shoulders. The position was so natural he wasn’t sure when they’d ended up there.

Alec stiffened for a moment, but the tension passed quickly. “I guess it starts with how badly my week went,” he started.

Magnus smiled slightly. This kind of conversation was familiar. “I know the feeling,” he said.

“It was a lot of Clave business,” Alec continued. “Boring stuff, really.”

Alec paused, and Magnus was not in the mood for an awkward pause, currently. “The politics of the Downworld are not much more exciting, I imagine,” he said. He rubbed his hand up and down Alec’s arm absently. It might have been to comfort either one of them.

“I always knew how the Clave felt about Downworlders,” Alec continued curiously, as if he were thinking out loud. “But seeing it up close was…different.”

Magnus felt panic squeeze his heart. He knew that New York was somewhat of an exception with the relations between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. Sure, there was significant tension there, but it rarely escalated to full out brawls as it did in other places. At least the Downworlders could police themselves to an extent, and many of the Shadowhunters here at least cared about the Law enough that they could be talked into treating the Downworlders with an ounce of decency, even if it had an undercurrent of contempt.

In Idris, it tended to be an overcurrent.

“I can imagine,” Magnus said carefully.

“It made me really think about you. Us.” Alec shifted uncomfortably and Magnus absently squeezed his upper arm; he knew Alec wasn’t a fan of opening up.

“Is that so?” Magnus asked.

“Gossip spreads quickly in Idris. People asked about us a lot. Not all of them were pleasant.”

Magnus stiffened and couldn’t force the tension away. “Did anyone hurt you?”

“No,” Alec replied. “At least not physically. They tried to, other ways.”

“I’m sorry.” Magnus couldn’t think of anything else to say, and guilt gnawed at him.

“Don’t be,” Alec said. He leaned away from Magnus so he could look in his face. “It’s not your fault.”

“Or yours,” Magnus cut in quickly. The last thing he wanted was for Alec to blame himself.

“I know,” Alec said. He smiled, small and radiant.

Magnus was reminded, quite abruptly, of who Alec had been when they had met – a quiet, reserved Shadowhunter who had walls up to keep everyone out. And now those walls had holes in them, and Alec didn’t mind if others saw more of who he was.

“I didn’t care about what they said,” Alec continued. “They were wrong anyway, and I told them that. They don’t know the Downworld. They don’t know _you_ like I do.”

Magnus felt a smile cross his face. He wasn’t going to believe Alec had changed any minds, but Alec had defended him – had defended all of them.

“I love you,” he said.

And stopped.

Because Alec had said it too.

“You…?”

“Do you mean…?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It was Alec who initiated the kiss, and neither of them felt compelled to stop it.

“I’ve been waiting to say that for so long,” Magnus said at one point, one hand in Alec’s hair and the other around his waist. He felt Alec’s grip on him tighten for half a second.

“How long?”

“I don’t remember.”

Alec broke away but didn’t go very far, his face suddenly serious, though his eyes were still bright. “How long?”

Magnus pursed his lips thoughtfully, still able to feel Alec’s against his. “At least a month. Maybe longer.”

The serious look melted off Alec’s face and he laughed, burying his face against Magnus’ shoulder.

Well that was not the reaction Magnus had been expecting. “What is it?”

“What if I told you I’d been trying to get up the nerve to tell you for the last month?” Alec’s voice was muffled against Magnus’ shirt, but the amusement was plainly obvious.

Amusement, and something else.

“I would believe you,” Magnus said. He could remember times when Alec had seemed like he was holding back, like he was trying to decide whether to say something and had decided against it. He wondered if Alec had had the same realization, if that was the reason for his reaction.

They sat there like that for a few minutes, just holding each other in companionable silence. They could each feel the other’s heartbeat against his chest, and neither could remember being so content.

At one point Magnus leaned back so he was lying on the sofa with Alec draped over him. Alec made a surprised noise, but didn’t protest.

“What?” Alec asked, when he caught how Magnus was looking at him.

“I love you,” Magnus said.

Alec grinned. “I love you too.”

“Tell me about Idris?” Magnus requested. Certainly it couldn’t have been all bad.

So Alec told him. No, it hadn’t been all bad. In fact, some of it seemed rather pleasant – catching up with his cousins who didn’t care too much about his love life, going for walks along the canal in Alicante. Magnus held on to him the whole time he talked, until Alec reached a stopping point and Magnus shifted, trying to find a better position.

“Something wrong?” Alec teased. He wrapped an arm around Magnus and effortlessly flipped them so he was on his back with Magnus laying on his chest.

Magnus smirked at him. “You’re heavy, love,” he teased back.

Alec just rolled his eyes and kissed Magnus, softly, on his cheek, his nose, his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Tell me about your week?”

They spent much of the night like that. It seemed that since the words were now out in the open, neither could stop saying them. So their evening progressed, trading stories and kisses and _I love you_ s. Eventually they fell asleep tangled together, leaning against each other, smiles still faintly on their lips.


End file.
